Tortured Soul
by Defiled Ladel
Summary: And after tomorrow he would finally be able to sleep soundly. Knowing she would be dead.


**Hello again.**

**I have come back with another story for you. I received some lovely reviews for my last work and after thinking what I wanted to do this idea kept coming back so I decided to run with it and see where it went. And I'm pleased to say I like where it went.**

**But there is some 'graphic' descriptions in this so the M rating is warranted. I don't think its too bad but everyone else doesn't have the same level for stuff like me so I tried to keep it at a level that I think anyone going into a M rated fic will be comfortable at.**

**So anyway enjoy (if you can enjoy it) and have a good day.**

* * *

_Drip_

_Drip_

_Drip_

Mercury jolted awake.

The bag covering his head blocked out everything. Darkness engulfed his vision, he turned his head to try to move the bag, finding it securely over him. He tried to move his limbs and found his arms tightly bound behind his back around the back of the chair he was sat in. Even unsettling was the fact that he couldn't feel his prosthetic s, they had been removed. Whoever was doing this knew him.

_Drip _

_Drip_

_Drip_

He moved his head to the sound. A light drip of liquid hitting the floor the only noise he could hear over the beating of his own heart. More sounds began to drift into his consciousness. The distant sounds of wildlife in the distance. And as he heard the other unmistakable sounds of another's breathing he realised he wasn't alone wherever he was.

"Hey, anyone else here?"

Silence. The breathing he heard still quiet and far off from him.

"Hey Asshole, I can hear you breathing."

The faint sounds of a chair creak as the weight was shifted and more quiet breathing. No response.

"Alright good prank man. Just let me out and we can laugh about it."

Nothing

His nerves creeping up, and his brain overworking, trying to find a way out of this predicament. He shifted on the chair trying to calm himself down before he let his nervous brain project that in his speech.

"Hey look man, I'll give you whatever you want just let me out. I'll help whatever it takes just take the bag off."

He heard a new noise.

The other breath sucked in and with a loud creak the other occupant of the room began their slow walk over to him, the steps echoing in the room, almost like they were stomping instead of walking to him.

The steps stopped in front of him. The breathing unchanged, an unease that grew when the footsteps slowly started up again and began to walk around him. The sound seemingly all consuming his ever fracturing mental state.

The steps continued for what felt like hours. Calmly pacing around him no up tick in pace or change in direction. The footfalls almost lulling him into the monotonous echo of the steps.

"What's your name?"

The voice jolted him, making him jump in place tied to the chair. So sudden he heard it he almost didn't believe he had heard another voice. All the while the footsteps continued.

"What's your name?"

Mercury almost thought of not responding, for making him sweat in the chair. But then the other part of his brain screamed at him to do what he was told. The sooner he did that the sooner he could get out of this fucked up situation.

"Mercury." He said as convincingly he could. His voice shook with each syllable.

His cheek exploded with pain. He could feel the cut his cheek begin to ooze blood into his mouth and before he could process the pain another blow came smashing him in his nose. He heard the crack of his bones and felt the blood run out his broken nose and the collecting blood in his mouth run out and drip off his chin, slowly pooling and dripping out the bottom of the bag that still covered his head.

"Full name."

The voice seemingly unfazed after nearly shattering another persons face.

Mercury tried to respond. The pain in his nose paralysing him enough for him to not be able to speak in time before the next strike came hard against his face again. More pain bloomed from his already battered cheek and blood flowed freely from the cuts in his cheek and spaces where his teeth used to be.

"Mercury Black." He wheezed out, the pain taking everything out of him.

"Again."

"Mercury Black." He managed to sound more like himself, a little louder. His senses coming back to him. The throbbing pain in his mouth blocking out every other thought in his mind and before he could process anything else he was blinded.

The bag was ripped from his head with enough force that it took some hairs from his head in the process causing him to wince from the new pain. The sudden removal caused his face to scrunch up seemingly hiding away from the sudden lights being shone in his face. If he wasn't already disorientated he surely would be now.

As his vision slowly came back he began to notice small details about the room.

A small space with a table on one side with a bag on top. Surrounding him small lights pointed at him to obstruct his view of the other figure in the room who after removing the bag retreated to their original position across the room.

Mercury looked over at the figure. He couldn't make out anything concrete on them, most likely a man, but he'd known women who could hit hard as well, even been on the receiving end of a few bone shattering blows. But those paled in comparison to the truck that just hit him now. He could make out the posture of the other. Legs crossed seemingly leaning back, like they were just waiting for a bus or lounging at home watching some stupid movie.

It put him on further edge. Anybody who could sit like they were at home after breaking his nose and knock out a few teeth was someone who knew what they doing. Someone who wasn't a pushover, someone who in his current position could easily take his life if he didn't play along.

"Do you know why your here?"

The voice floated over to him like a gentle breeze. As unnerved as he was began to with the lack of emotion coming from this person was staggering, and he had worked with some less human people in his past.

"Did I sleep with your sister?" He joked

He heard the chuckle and the now familiar steps come closer to him again. Mercury looked up and met the face of his captor. Mercury's mind caught up in time for his other cheek to explode with pain and blood, knocking him to the floor still attached to the chair. As his head hit the concrete floor he spat the blood out of his mouth and allowed it to pool around him.

He felt the chair be grabbed and hauled back up right. He felt his hair be pulled and he came face first against his torturer.

Jaune Arc

Mercury looked at the man in front of him. Almost not believing what his eyes were telling him. The klutz of beacon was standing in front of him wailing on him. It would be funny and he would of laughed if his face didn't scream whenever he sucked in air.

He watched as Jaune walked out of his line of vision. Mercury turned his head and saw him at the table and bring the bag closer to him. As he watched the man come closer he saw the strain in the other mans arms and the size of the bag. Whatever was inside was heavy. The creeping wave of dread washed over him as he realised whatever was in the bag was going to more than likely used on him.

He steeled himself to the impending pain, pain he can deal with. His father made sure of it.

"Here's how this is going to work. Your going to tell me where Cinder Fall is and then this can all end."

Mercury's head shot up to look the man in the eyes. Grey meets Blue and he wonders how he knew anything about the plan.

After the Grimm War they had scattered. Everyone who was left at the end who managed to escape before the Grimm Queen died had went as low to the ground as possible and kept hidden from everyone for the longest time. He knew that Hazel got caught a few years back and after keeping a somewhat steady correspondence with Emerald where ever she was Mercury knew very little about who was still out there.

Until he received a letter from Emerald asking for weird information and funds for an undisclosed reason. He trusted her and sent it with the promise of being brought into the fold as soon as it was done. He heard nothing for 2 months and when he got his next letter from her Emerald explained all.

Cinder survived somehow. Mercury heard she was ran through by the man in front of him now. And she needed money to get as far away from vale and civilisation as possible. They were the only people to know she was alive and where she was. And now Mercury was looking at the man who wanted to finish the job once and for all.

"Before you spout your bullshit and spin me a story remember this, every time you lie to me I'm going to cut a piece of you off. And when I cant cut no more, I'm going to give you enough aura to heal up and start all over again. Do not screw me about."

As each word left his captors mouth Mercury's resolve slowly crumbled, his knowledge of Arc's semblance was non-existent, never really knowing what it actually did. But now with a seemingly unlimited time to extract whatever he wanted from him. He wanted to spill everything to the man and stop the coming suffering from coming. But he made a promise. He promised Emerald he wouldn't tell anyone, annoyed that his only real friend was still at the whim of that psychopath. And a promise is a promise.

Mercury spat the blood out of his mouth at Jaune's feet. "I have no idea where she is."

Jaune nodded at him and brought the bag to chair. "I was hoping you would make this difficult." As he spoke he brought out a short bladed knife and gripped it firmly in his hand.

"But first let me start from scratch."

As Jaune said this Mercury noticed the faint white glow coming from his hand and felt a surge through his body as his aura kicked in and begun to heal the cuts in his mouth and dull the pain in his nose.

Mercury caught the glint of the blade and watched as the edge gently caressed his cheek before moving down his arm and stop at his wrist. His breathing became heavier as the blade slowly was brought from his wrist and lower and stop at what remained of his legs. The scar tissue hidden underneath his clothes.

He screamed out as the point of the blade sliced through his leg. The blade slowly moving down and only stopping when the hilt met flesh. His breathing quickened and a fresh scream erupted from him as the knife was slowly twisted in the fresh wound, tearing muscle and veins as it turned before as slow as it entered was pulled from his leg, ripping away at him until the knife came free. Blood flowing freely from the wound and the sound of his screams reverberating from his mouth and room he looked at his leg pouring blood on the floor.

Unlike the first, the next strike was quick and rapid as the knife entered his other leg and was pulled from the flesh before more strikes came, slowly making his leg a bloody mess of slashed meat.

He was openly screaming now with each stab, tears streaming down his face and snot flowing down his face, the blood from earlier refilling his mouth as his injuries damaged him beyond his aura could take before he fell unconscious.

* * *

Mercury felt warm. A smile on his face as the warmth radiated from his body and through him, comforting him in his dream. The feeling grew stronger and with it he tried to move. His arms did not budge. He tried again to the same result growing scared in his dreaming state to not being able to move.

Before he could comprehend what was happening he felt the shock of cold.

Mercury awoke. His body was wet, whether it was from sweat or the bucket of ice cold water thrown at him he didn't know. He felt like he had been here for days, the pain unending and the relief from his captor removing all of it only for it to come back worse than before. He could feel himself slowly breaking down, his body bore no scars but his mind felt all of it and with each rush of aura to his body his mind slowly slipped away from him.

"Wake up. Were not done here."

He hadn't heard Jaune talk since the pain begun and the man looked no different since they started. He had cleaned himself up, no longer his hands and arms covered in gore from the countless blood shedding hours.

Jaune scraped a chair across the ground. The screech of metal on concrete pierced Mercury's head, the sound foreign and alien from his screams. He took a seat in front of the wet man in front of him.

"I thought you would break by now. You are full of surprises." Jaune had a small chuckle to himself "Never would have thought you would lay your life down for Cinder Fall of all people."

Mercury spat at Jaune's feet. Breathing heavily and with a strength he pulled from somewhere raised himself to sit upright and look Jaune in the eyes and say nothing.

"But then it occurred to me. Mercury Black wouldn't die for anyone. Not Cinder Fall, not Salem. No he would live to the last if he could. Unless it was a special person."

At this Mercury's eye twitched slightly and Jaune smiled at the small reaction.

"I have something to show you." Jaune produced a scroll from his pocket and showed him the screen.

It showed a candid photo. Clearly the person taking it was further away than the subject could notice and with that was unaware of the surveillance. Mercury's eyes widened at the picture of Emerald walking down a street with her back to the camera. Jaune swiped across the screen to show him more pictures of Emerald. From her shopping to her speaking with people, even unnerving a picture of her sleeping from the room she was in.

"But would you die for her? Just give me the location of Cinder and we can let her have the life she always wanted. If not then after I'm done here I'm going to go back there and cleave her in two and your last thought will be how you let that happen as you bleed out in this hole."

Mercury stared at the scroll. His eyes drinking in her form, he couldn't save himself. He was already dead, Arc made sure of it but he could still save Emerald. She would eventually understand why he sacrificed Cinder for her. She can hate him all she wants but he would know in his last moments that she was safe.

"She's in Vacuo." Mercury said a silent prayer to whoever was listening that Emerald had a nice life.

"I need more Mercury. Or does she not matter?" Jaune said.

Mercury's eyes shot up and looked the blonde in the face and gritted his teeth. "Small town, middle of the desert. Called Scarlet's Hope, that's all I know."

Jaune nodded in finality and stood up. "Information checks out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mercury said.

Jaune stopped and turned to him. His look of blankness shifted to an almost apologetic look before it turned to suppressed anger.

"Let me ask you a question. How do you think we found you? You think we stumbled on you? To look for you here in Menagerie? How could we of known that unless we found out some other way."

After each question Mercury's calm left him in droves. His body going stiff and his breathing growing heavier with each pull of air. A chill sprinted through him, not from the cold water but with the knowledge of what was being asked of him. He looked up at Jaune now standing in front of him.

"What did you do to her?" Mercury shouted. His brain working faster than he could think, thrashing against the restraints that held tight eventually rocking the chair enough to come crashing down to the ground in a drying pool of his own blood.

Jaune bent his knees and stooped lower to look the thrashing man in the eye. Mercury could see the heavy revolver in the blondes hand and with tears in his eyes looked the blond in the eye.

"As she was sleeping I crept into her home and blew her brains out with this gun. No fanfare or chance for her to react. Dead before she knew it. A mercy."

Mercury let the tears fall from his face and the loud wails erupt from him as he listened to the words come out of the mans mouth. He cried for her and the life she always wanted, a part of him hoped in some small way to share in that dream with her. Now that was gone, dashed away as quick as the gunshot that killed her.

Jaune stood up and aimed the barrel at Mercury's head.

"She didn't deserve that." Mercury said. "She deserved to grow old and be happy. I understand killing me but she was innocent, just a pawn to be used and discarded in the end."

Jaune lashed out with a kick to the mans head. Snapping Mercury's newly fixed nose again, blood gushing from the fresh wound.

"Innocent? Her? The accomplice to the women who was responsible for the death of innocent people. The deaths of friends of mine. My partner? Neither of you are innocent and when I wipe the three of you from this world we can all sleep better for it."

As he finished, the revolver was brought up again and pushed against Mercury's forehead.

"Close your eyes. Die like she did, at least you can share a demise."

As Mercury closed his eyes he tried to remember the shade of her eyes, the way her mouth would twitch before she would eventually smile anything. But before he could bring anything to bear the gun barked loudly and silence fell in the small room.

* * *

The heat was bearable. Not uncomfortable to deal with but not something to ignore either. As the blonde man walked off the bullhead and to the nearest inn.

As he lay his gear on the bed and took inventory of everything he had, and made a mental list of things he would need he heard his scroll ping on the dresser. Walking over he opened the screen and answered the call, smiling as he did so.

"Hey Yang. Yeah I made it fine, just about to turn in and get some rest. Shouldn't take too long you know how long small Grimm hunts take. I know, I know if I don't bring you back something I'm on the couch for the night. I love you too, I'll be home before you know it."

As he ended the call and put the scroll back on the dresser he moved back to the bed. Staring at the picture in the middle of the last reminder of those times, the last stain on the world. The last thing keeping him awake at night.

And after tomorrow he would finally be able to sleep soundly. Knowing she would be dead.

* * *

**So that was a thing huh?**

**I don't think I've written something that bleak and dark before.**

**But a running thing that is talked about is Jaune being the one to kill Cinder and I'm like yeah that makes sense, let Ruby have Salem and give our angst boi his own villain to slay. And that got me wondering what if somehow Cinder, Emerald and Mercury survive and go into hiding. I could see Jaune putting up this mask of normalcy but underneath have the desire to hunt them down and end it once and for all.**

**But enough about my rambles.**

**I hope you liked it. A review is always welcome around here.**

**Have a good day**

**Ladel**


End file.
